Among few updates and even some comic relief at the dig site for Jimmy Hoffa in Oakland Township, the search for the former Teamster boss continued Tuesday.

The latest update came from Oakalnd County Sheriff Michael Bouchard, who said cadaver dogs had made an inconclusive hit on some animal bones and "other things."

"The dog moved about the area, but there was nothing real conclusive," Bouchard said.

One area of the property has been searched thoroughly and investigators are checking another area consistent with the information authorities have.

Advertisement

Bouchard said the search team found animal bones and "other things" in the dirt off of Buell Road.

"There is concrete back there," he said.

"We're working on that area."

The concrete that's being examined is relevant to the search, Bouchard said.

The sheriff also touched on the digging process during the press conference. In some areas, investigators are only peeling back a thin layer of ground. In other areas, they are being more aggressive. The dig covers an area of about 50 square yards.

Nothing had been sent for lab analysis as of Tuesday evening.

Bouchard guessed that investigators would only need until Thursday afternoon to complete a thorough search of the area.

As the dig was winding down Tuesday, a man who identified himself as Mr. Ed came to the area equipped with a horse's head costume and a shovel.

"I just like people to think about why we're doing this," said Mr. Ed, who explained the reason for his visit.

"What's the point of continuing to chase this crime? Everybody knows Hoffa's dead."

The man, who said he was from Lake Orion, posited that Hoffa's remains were most likely not at the site.

"If he is, who cares?"

Shortly before Bouchard spoke with the media, the attorney for the man who provided authorities with the latest tip in the Hoffa case said he was encouraged by the FBI-ordered shifting of a media location

It was just before 2 p.m. Tuesday when FBI officials moved bystanders, reporters and media crews from their initial location off of Buell Road and across Adams Road to an area on the corner of Adams and Orion roads.

The reasoning, according to FBI Spokesman Simon Shaykhet, was that camera crews were getting too close to focusing in on FBI agents' faces.

However, Anthony "Tony Z" Zerilli's attorney, David Chasnick, said that he was told that as authorities moved people away from the area, it was a good sign.

"(Media) were in the same spot (Monday) and FBI didn't move anyone back," Chasnick said.

"If they move us out, then maybe something's happening."

Chasnick said he believes that the FBI's reasoning for moving reporters away is nothing more than a fabrication.

Earlier Tuesday, additional details about the dig and investigation to find Hoffa's remains were revealed.

Officials reported that forensic anthropologists from Michigan State University were on site. Investigators were using one large back hoe and several shovels along with chain saws to aid with their search. Later Tuesday afternoon, a second excavator was brought to the site.

Authorities also said that they attempted to make the air space above the site a no-fly zone, which meant aircraft could not fly 25,000 feet above the area. But television crews got around it by flying at a higher altitude.

The search comes after Zerilli, 85, wrote a manuscript detailing how Hoffa was taken to the area in Oakland Township and buried alive.

The manuscript says that, after Hoffa's disappearance, three local mobsters drove him to what was then an old house and barn on the Buell Road property.

The manuscript states, "As soon as they pulled near the barn, Hoffa was dragged out of the car, bound and gagged. A shallow hole was already dug in the barn floor. ... (One of the men) picked up a shovel and cracked Hoffa over the head with it."

Zerilli writes that Hoffa put up a fight and was hit several more times. They threw him in the hole and buried him alive.

Lake Orion resident Russell Kidd showed up to the spot where some have said Hoffa's remains are buried on Tuesday morning.

He's hoping to cash in.

"Someday I'll be a real photographer," said Kidd with a laugh.

The 36-year-old, who came with a Nikon D90, had the day off from his job at Belle Tire. So he decided to scout the location of the dig, at Adams and Buell roads, and snap a few shots.

The Lake Orion resident hadn't been following the case -- he said he's lived in Michigan for nearly 15 years -- but he always noted that the story of Hoffa's disappearance had a real effect on people whenever it was mentioned.

"Yes, it's a saga," said Kidd, walking to the site, "but the most intriguing part is the human interest and the many theories (of what happened to the labor leader and where his remains rest)."

Rochester Hills resident Ray Falvo said he ate at the Machus Red Fox in Bloomfield Hills -- where Hoffa was last seen -- quite a bit, but he never saw Hoffa there.

"We never really looked for him," Falvo said.

"I guess we should've."

Falvo worked in the auto industry for the Budd Company for 35 years. A UAW member, Falvo said Hoffa did great work for hourly workers.

"It's a nice day for digging," said Falvo, who expressed his hopes that the labor icon's remains would be found at the site.

However, officials Tuesday afternoon reported that investigators have widened their search at the location.

FBI officials and as many as a dozen investigators with hard hats on could be seen near the site, with some workers measuring the distance from different landmarks at the site, including a telephone pole. The back hoe that investigators employed had been continuously moving Tuesday.

Since his disappearance in 1975, tipsters have called for searches of what's left of Hoffa's body in more than 15 locations, including under the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit, south of the most recent excavation site.

The FBI searched for Hoffa's body at a farm in Milford in 2006, digging under a horse barn, and, more recently, under a driveway in Roseville last October. In 2003, they searched under a pool in Bay County, and in 2004, they dug up floor boards in a Detroit home where blood was found.

This tip that has drawn the FBI, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office and the Bloomfield Township Police Department seems the most credible, according to those who've followed the case closely for years.

The tip is "probably the most credible in the sense that the information is coming from the most credible source, Tony Zerilli, the former mobster who has come forward and claimed that he was told that Jimmy Hoffa was buried on this property," said Scott Burnstein, local crime historian.